One of my duties as a speech and debate coach over the years was hosting weekend tournaments. And part of that duty was organizing a concession stand to feed all of the students who came. That meant buying what felt like a heinous amount of hot dogs, chips and candy, along with tons of pop …
Continue reading “Make a pie that feels like it’s payday every day”
In 2024, the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released a study about the ongoing popularity of pumpkin spice lattes. Apparently, according to their study, apple spice was starting to edge out pumpkin on the popularity scale last …
Continue reading “Bake a ‘cinn’sational treat to celebrate autumn weather”
It’s amazing how memory works. There are so many experiences from my childhood that seemed so big, so awesome, so magical, and once I experienced them again as an adult, I realized that those were better left as cherished memories than something to revisit. I remember, for example, taking Joey to see Coronado Heights near …
Continue reading “Sometimes it pays to give memories a fair ‘cake’”
Back in college, when I decided I was going to change my major and get my teaching degree, one of my first undertakings was to learn what I deemed to be a very important teacher skill: how to drink coffee. Growing up, the coffee maker only came out at our house if we were having …
Continue reading “Make your own coffee ice cream from the ground(s) up”
I have been spending some time reading through the Harvey County Fair’s entry guidelines book, looking at all the food categories. The one that intrigues me, which I need to pay more attention to when I go look at the exhibits this year, is for cookie jars. For the entry, the cookies have to be …
Continue reading “‘Wash’ out for these easy-to-make sugar-coated cookies”
I find that the toughest time of year to make desserts is summer. If it’s a particularly good recipe, I’m willing to heat up my kitchen by using my oven, but my problem is how the dessert will travel with the heat. And if the event I’m taking my dessert to happens to be outdoors, …
Continue reading “In July, heat-proof desserts are a ‘pine’ of the times”
Last weekend, our house was the scene of an end-of-season party for Joey’s bowling team. I always love when that crew comes over. They are a super nice group, and it’s always fun to share a big meal and hear them tell stories and tease each other about their bowling gaffes. It’s also a great …
Continue reading “Earn brownie points with your friends with these awesome cookies”
Someone told me last week that I don’t really qualify as an amateur baker, since I’ve been writing this column way too long for that, but I still claim the title, especially after taking on a recent huge project. A dear friend of the newspaper, Debbie Pierce, celebrated her retirement last week, and since we …
Continue reading “Cupcakes the best way to say ‘auf Wiedersehn’ to a good friend”
We attended a high school graduation this past week, and since I only knew one graduate, I had a little time to let my mind wander during the ceremony. I thought about how making friends has changed for me in the 20-plus years since I was in high school. It used to be so easy: …
Continue reading “Look cool at your next gathering with an icebox cake”
I’ve struggled over the years with the definition of coffeecake. Generally speaking, it’s cake that is meant to be enjoyed with coffee and doesn’t actually contain any. But then I run into a recipe like I made for this week, which is a coffee cake—a cake that includes coffee. We hosted an event at the …
Continue reading “Every night is date night with this great coffee cake”
